Improvement in circular looms



NL PETERS, FHOTO-LITMOGRAPNER. WASHINGTON. D C.

I UNITED STATES PATENT O'EEICE.

WILLIAM DARKER, JR., OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR T0 J. I3. THOMPSON, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN CIRCULAR LOOMS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 39, |97, (lated July 7, 1863.

.To all whom it may concern.' Y

Be it. known that I, WILLIAM DARKER, Jr., of the city of Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and improved circular loom for weaving the covering of skirt-wire and other circular weaving operations; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, forming part of thisl specification, in which- Figure 1 is a central vertical section of the loom. Fig. 2 is a plan of the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

The principal features of my invention consist of certain novel means of opening the sheds of the cireularly-arranged warp, and in a novel device for carrying the weft through the open sheds.

. To enable others to make and use my invention, Iwill proceed to describe its constructim and operation.

A is4 a circular bed-plate, which supports all the parts of the loom.

Bis a stationary upright cylinder, arrau ged above and concentric with the bed-plate, and carrying an odd number of radiallyarran ged slotted guides a a, corresponding with the number of warp threads or strands to be used in the loom. The warp threads or strands (represented of blue color in the drawings) are to be supplied from a beam or from bobbins suitably arranged, and pass through seperate guides b b, attached to the edges of the bedplate, thence upward obliquely through the arrns a a to a centralpoint above, where they are woven together by the introduction of the weft.

E is a rxed upright tube, inserted centrally through the bed-plate and through the cylinder B, and extending upward above the cylinder nearly to where the llingis inserted, for the purpose of conducting the skirt-wire w, or other article or fabric, which is to be cevcred by the weavin g. This tube serves also to secure the cylinder B to the bed-plate and hold it in place.

D D are a number of vibrating fingers, or, as they may be termed, leaders, corresponding with the number of slotted guides a a, ar-

ranged to work outside of the cylinder Bin planes radial thereto and at equal distances apart. The lower portions Vof these leaders are fitted to iixed horizontal pivots IL 7L, secured to the bed-plate, and they are either so constructed as to form springs c c, or otherA Wise furnished with springs which tend to throw their upper ends outward from the center of the loom. The purpose of the said leaders is to act upon the warp-yarns in such manner as to press them inward one at a time, as illustrated at the right hand of Fig. l, make them cross each other for the reception of the filling, and for this purpose their upperends are bent in such manner as to enablev them to press againstthose sides of the yarns which are farthest from the center of the loom.

O is what I call a earl-ier;7 carrying the bobbin F, from which the weft-yarn) represented in red color) is supplied. This carrier consists of a horizontally-arranged plate, of a form somewhat resembling that of the letter C, the exterior pr( senting a nearly complete circle, and being kept concentric with the cylinder B and at` a short distance above the radial guides a a by means of a series of horizontall y-arran ged grooved pulleys, G G, which are tted to and supported upon upright s tationary shafts H H, arranged at equal distances from the axis of the cylinder and at equal distances apart. The carrier is fitted to the grooves of the pulleys G G in such manner as to be supported by them and as to be permitted to rotate freely.

I is an endless band arranged around the Whole series of pulleys G G, for the purpose of causing the whole to rotate simultaneously, so that by giving motion to any one of them by suitable means all may operate upon the carrier to produce its rotary motion. The direction of this rotary motion is indicated by an arrow upon the carrier in Fig. 2. The bobbin F is arranged to turn by the draft of its yarn upon a spindle, d, secured to the carrier, but the too-free delivery of the yarn is prevented by a spring, J, which produces friction upon the body of yarn contained on the bobbin. The carrier has also secured to it guides ef g, to conduct the yarn to the filling-point, the guide g extending up above the top of the tube E. To the under side of the carrier there is attached a cam, K, for producing the operation of the leaders D D. This cam is in the form of a cross, and is tted to turn freely ugon a pin, i, secured firmly in the carrier, and it operates on the said leaders through the agency of a series ot' levers, L L, corresponding in number with the fingers. lhese levers are attached by their fulcru'in-pinsjj to the cylinder B, and are severally arranged on the opposite sides vof the cylinder to their respective leaders, and connected therewith by hooks at their lower end sand wires k k, passing under the bottom of the cylinder, and the cam K is caused by the rotation of the carrier to operate on their upper ends, bein-g so proportioned that the ends ot' the arms oi the cross act on alternate levers to press their upper ends inward, and so cause them to draw their respective leaders far enough toward the center of the machine to bring their respective yarns toy positions to enable thek point l of the carrier to pass outside of them,the recesses between the said arms coming opposite to the intervening levers, which are therebyv caused not to be moved by the cam, and which, with their respective leaders, remain in the positions to which they are brought by their re'- spective springs c c while the cam passes the 'said intervening levers,y such:y positions of the levers being such that they do not touch their respective yarns. The cam derives rotary motion on its axis by its movement in coutact with the levers as it revolves around the latter in the rotation ot' the carrier, sufch rotary motion bein g produced in substantially the same manner as the rotation of a cogwheel upon its own axis is produced' by its revolution around a stationary circular series ot'cogs, the levers acting like the stationary cogs, and the extent of such rotary motion being one quarter-revolution in passing two levers, which causes it to present the end of one ot' its iour arms against alternate levers. To give the levers the necessary firmness for this cog-like action, they are tted to upright slots iin the cylinder. 'lhe loom is to be iurnished with a take-up, 7 by which the wire or other article to be covered and its woven' cov y ering are drawn upward as fast as the wea-'ving ot' the covering proceeds.-

Having now explained he construction and the movei'n entsf of the-several parts of thel'o'oin-, l wi'il proceel tol describe the operation or' weaving.

One rotary motion being given tothel carrier C thel leaders D D are, one at a tinre'and' in a ternate succession, pressed inward by the action of the cam upon their respective levers L L, such action taking place just as the point l of the carrier is about to pass their respective yarns, and the said point is thus caused to pass outside of the alternate warp-yarns so pressed inward and inside of the intervening yarns which are not so acted upon, and thus an open shed is produced, as shown at the sides ot' Fig. 1, which is extended by the carrier as its rotation proceeds, and through which the carrier carries the bobbin F and inserts the weft-yarn 5 and as there is an odd number of warp-warns and of leaders D D', a change of yarns takes place in every successive revolution ot' the carrier-that is toA say, those ngers which are'. acted upon by the cam in one revolution of the cam are missed in the next and' theinfterv'eniug ones operated upon, so that those yarns which i. are inside of the carrier in one revolution are t out-side of it in the next, and vice versa, and i thus a crossing of the shed is produced and l the; weft secured.

This loomis applicable with especial advantage to the` covering of skirt-wire, and may also be applied to the covering of shadecord or other fabrics or materials; or it may be used i'or' weaving tubi-ng, a stationary core of then- 1 tended size ofthe interior of the tubing being Q' used insuch casein place of the central tube, E, and the weaving being eli'ecte'd u pon the' ex` i teri-or of the said core'.

' to secure by Letters Patent,y is-YV 1. The employment, vfor acting upon the warp threads in a circular loom to produce an open shed for the introduction of the weft, ot'a series of leaders, D D, applied and operating substantially as herein specified;

2. The employment, for pass-ing the weft thread or threads through the opening sheds of the warp in a circular loom, ot' a carrier, G, supported by a surrounding series of groove'd' pulleys, G G, which serve both to sustain it inits proper position and tov give itrotary n'iotion, vs'ubsta-ntially as and for the purpose' herein s-peciie'd.

3f The cam K, attached to' the carrier 0,1 and operating through the agency of levers L L and wires 7c k, or their equivalents, to produce thel operation oi' the leaders Dk D, substantially as and i'or the purpose' herein specified'.

WILLIAM DARKER, JR'. Witnesses:

JOHN S. COTTON,

lt. MCMULLEN.

What I claim as my invention, and des-ire 

